These oil on canvas paintings by artist Emily Burns explore contemporary concepts of female beauty. The artist's experimental portraits, a series entitled Deer Girls, feature sensual, feminine figures paired with deer heads. The pin-up girl portraits stimulate a curiosity about the natural blend between human and animal. By eliminating the face, Burns removes a viewer's natural instinct to form a personal connection with the subjects. This lack of human identity creates an environment where the objectification of the feminine form is inevitable.
Burns says, “My recent work investigates the inner complexities of women through intimate glimpses of parallel environments. I am interested in the vulnerability of beauty, and the eternalization of my subjects through the process of painting.” The thought-provoking work inspires viewers to think about concepts of beauty and how that is defined in everyday society. The artist naturally blends the body and the animal head into one continuous figure. In doing so, she introduces new ways to think about physical appearance in a culture filled with preconceived notions of beauty.
Emily Burns' website
via [Juxtapoz]
